While the majority of the nation is in the grips of a heatwave, it’s another blustery “summer” day in the Bay Area. This would be the day I’d run across a car that could only exist in that period of automotive gadgetry before the marvel of air conditioning became affordable to the majority of car buyers.

I’m not sure that air conditioning in automobiles had even a 35% take rate by 1963. It was still an option in most luxury cars. Adding the equivalent of a box fan at the front door (your cowl vent system) and opening the kitchen door out back (your rear window) must have seemed like a good idea.

Packard initially tinkered with the idea of a reverse slant roll down rear window for the Balboa X show car of 1953. Intended as a coupe variant of the Caribbean convertible, the disastrous year of 1954 made the coupe a moot point for Packard. They sold the design rights for a reverse slant roof to Ford. Ford then tinkered with the idea of a reverse slant roll down rear window on various concept cars. One of the earliest examples was the Lincoln Diplomat concept from 1956. But in the one blast of uniqueness that characterized the whole life of Mercury, the finally unique models of 1957 brought the wondrous wind tunnel to its top-of-the-line Turnpike Cruiser models.

Priced in Buick Roadmaster territory without the prestige, they didn’t sell well. The Cruiser was gone by 1959. But of all oddities the concept moved far upmarket to the massive new for 1958 Unibody Continental based on the gargantuan Capri/Premieres.

The irony was that the distinctive reverse slant of the Mark III “breezeway” option was a cost cutting measure. After the beautiful Mark II lost so much money, there wasn’t much of a budget to make a unique bodied Continental. So in comes a few electrical motors and 3 panes of glass for distinction. Even the Continental Convertible during these years had a reverse slant single glass window that rolled down in much the same way as the Hardtops.

By the early 1960s, the failure of the unique Mercury left it no more than a Galaxie with curious trim. Unlike its rivals from Dodge or Pontiac, there was little in styling or engineering that gave buyers incentive to cough up the extra $75 to $200 over a comparable Ford.

To the average eye, I doubt any buyers could really tell the difference between the Galaxie and Monterey for at least a minute. Both were clean, unobtrusive cars. But other there’s little incentive to spend the extra dough for the Mercury. I give my nod to all Fords with afterburner tail lights. And you had the same list of options, engines and transmissions to pick from. At least a Dodge Dart gave you wart hog styling over the Plymouth “Valiant Origami” Fury. At Pontiac you got the pubescent sprouting of round hips and a choice of two Hydra Matics over a run of the mill Impala. Only selling 107,000 big cars in 1962, Mercury needed a gimmick and it needed it fast.

So a Gimmick from the waning years of the Eisenhower administration got plopped on the Camelot era Mercury. And the gimmick worked, somewhat. although sales of the full sized cars only increased by about 15,000 cars, 76% of all big Mercury deliveries were Breezeways.

Mercury kept the Breezeway as an option through 1968. But it never had as much as an overwhelming impact as it did in 1963. Nor did it look as oddly “right” as it did in this iteration.

There was enough detail difference for 1963 that the Monterey didn’t immediately scream “Quick! Get the Galaxie more chrome!” But in those details it re-hashed a series of failures during McNamara FordMoCo. The rear end unabashedly recalls the 1958-60 Mega Lincolns, down to the 6 round tail lights and blunt versions of the fins at the tops of the fender and on the bumper.

Meanwhile the face is generic 1960s American car. Dodge reused this same basic face for its equally generic hodge-podge 880 series for 1964. And it’s not all that much different than how the 1963 Rambler Classic/Ambassador look up front either. Whenever in doubt on how not offend your buyers? Put four headlights in a concave grille, and put your turn signals in a plain bumper. Mission Accomplished.

It all comes back to that curious roof doesn’t it? It’s such a frilly, fussy detail in an era where American automotive styling was striking a fine balance between crisply tailored lines and voluptuous curves. From the remarkably well executed 1963 General Motors B and C bodies, to the Hail Mary pass-saving of the 1963 Plymouth, only an Imperial, or the still cockeyed 1963 Dodge Polara seemed to look towards past trends instead of embracing the future.

A remarkably high number of survivors still tool the streets of the Bay Area, rear window rolled down. I lived near a 1964 Breezeway for two years, and always thought as I drove by if a “For Sale” sign appeared in that rear window I’d at least have to test drive it on the freeway, to see what the effect was like. Motor Trend Articles of the day found lowering the window partially to be a great ventilation aid, although lowering the window all the way lead to furious buffeting. Perhaps that’s why for the final 2 years the Breezeway option was placed in a conventional 4 door sedan roof and only lowered 2 inches.

You can add it to the list of remarkably oddball American cars of the past I wish I could own. When it comes to open air options from the 1960s, only a Studebaker Lark Cruiser or Daytona coupe with a very German style canvas sunroof seem comparable.

But what else would make a time warp to 1963 with Martha & The Vandellas “Heatwave” blaring more authentic. Some would say an Impala, Riviera or Sting Ray would be more of a zeitgeist choice. But in those pre A/C dominated days, on a 100+ degree heatwave day, A little breeze would have been more than welcome.

56 Comments

First the Gen1 Barracuda and now this – Unique Rear Window Week here on CC! What a strange yet cool car. I remember these as a kid – they always struck me as really funny looking. Not many of them around, either, even then. And what unfortunate timing. Just as Mercury found a feature that was unique, wouldn’t you know that we were easing into the period when air conditioning would start to become commonplace.

I would guess that with the back window up, this design did awful things to the aerodynamics of this car. I wonder if this car shared the tendency that station wagons had for filthy rear windows due caused by bad aerodynamics.

Yes, an oddball it was. Someone in the neighborhood had one of these back then. Just like in one of the photos, it was a white, four-door model. I especially liked that back window, as I am a fan of all that rolls down!

I never got to experience riding in one, though – although I wanted to experience that unique feature!

Now we need an article on those jet-engine air coolers that you used to hang on your door window like a drive-in restaurant tray, rolled up, with those things at rooftop height! I used to see those all the time and wondered how they worked. Now that would be a “classic” accessory all its own!

I recently purchased a white 1963 Mercury Monterey Breezway Custom and I absolutely love it! I too enjoy the fact of the rear window rolling down. I have been tinkering with it since I got it to eventually completely restored condition as it is already 90-95% done. Just needs the front seat reupholstered and a new paint job. Just love it!

My Dad had one of these when I was a kid. they were a blast. All he had to do was put down the back window and the air would just rush in. Couldn’t hear anybody talking but felt great. However they were prone to rusting out on the doors. Wish they still made something similar. love to see a restored one at a car show.

They were actually pretty common in my little corner of urban Northeast Ohio – no doubt owing to the very-hot summers which were common in the 1960s (a period as warm or warmer than the 1990s; each summer brought at least a couple with the mercury breaking 100. No, wait, let me rephrase that…)

Anyway…as a kid, I thought that was a great idea. As the kid of parents with a station wagon, with a roll-down back window, I wondered – aloud and insistently – why didn’t WE drive around with the back window down? My old man was an engineer by training, was safety conscious and knew aerodynamics…and he put the foot down. IT WAS NOT SAFE – all the exhaust fumes would be sucked in. Of course, a little kid wouldn’t believe that…even as he wondered why all that dirt wound up on the rear window all the time.

The Breezeway would fare a little better than a wagon in that regard, as the section of the trunk would provide some space-protection from the buffetting up of road dirt. But the adult me can’t see how it would provide much more than, as noted, roof-panel-flapping buffeting…it would be a secure way to leave a window open while parked, to keep the car cool, but that’s about it.

Ford had a knack for adopting technology just as it was becoming superceded and obsolete. Remember the touch-panel on the door sill to operate the electric door lock with a code? They waited fifteen years after electric door locks became commonplace; just to bring it out as digital radio transmissions made the key-fob opener practical, cheap and now universal.

I had a ’91 taurus with the door code panel. I loved it because I could lock my keys in the car when camping/fishing/boating and not have to worry about losing them. Also it mean no bulky transmitter o nmy keychain. I’d actually love to retrofit a keypad to my xB.

Ford still has the keypads on the 2011s. My grandfather’s 1987 Fox-body Continental had it. The buttons lit up at night. One thing I don’t like on most new cars is how the remote is built into the key itself, so you now have to carry around a giant key.

Ford’s keyless entry came to market on Lincolns in the 70’s and had trickled down to the lesser brands by the 80’s a full decade + before factory remote entry fobs hit the market.

By the late 90’s remote entry was all the rage and Ford had added it to many of their lines so in 98 the keyless entry was dropped on many lines. Big mistake Ford customers missed it on the option list and it returned to most for 99 and it is still going strong.

Keyless entry is so much more convenient much of the time. I got my first car so equipped no too long after my first child was born. By the time the second came around I was so glad to have it. Walking up to the car with a infant seat in one hand and holding the other child’s hand there was no need to try to get the keys out, and before too long no need to do anything as my son would open the car. It’s still great to have today as there is no need to give them the keys when they say “I think I left my xxxx in the car”. Plus I only carry the keys to the car I’m driving at the time so I often used it to get something out w/o having to go in the house and get the keys or a “remote” key.

Well, one advantage of the Breezeway was that most cars still didn’t have flow-through ventilation — I’ve never ridden in one of these cars, but from the contemporary reviews, you could crack the rear window and get a decent breeze through the cabin with the side windows rolled up, which was a decided improvement. Of course, shortly after the ’63s came out, Ford really pioneered the modern flow-through system, first in the ’64 Flair Bird T-Bird, then in the ’65 LTD four-door hardtops, providing the same effect in a fair less obtrusive manner.

In Emsdale Ontario I used to pass a 64 for sale on my way to Algonquin Park.
I was half interested in a huge Merc with crisp lines, but I think the sign said $3000 which was too much for me in the early ’90s. According to Streetview it’s still there, but I can’t imagine the past 20 years have been kind.

Nice job on this one Laurence, how did you get the 60’s photo effect on the pictures you took?

And to answer you Doug, the advantages of catching cars with your smart phone allows you to play with the many phototaking/sharing applications. I have a photoshop application on my Android that I used to slightly oversaturated and turned up the yellow tint to make up for the fact that it was a mostly foggy sunset.

Zackman hates fixed windows, and my major gripe about newer cars is the lack of fresh air ventilation. Back when fresh air came in through the kick panels, you could get by on all but the hottest days without a/c, as long as you were moving. But once the beancounters combined the fresh air system with the heating system (and replaced a hot water valve with a blend door) the ventilation system was rendered useless. Just try do drive a non a/c car (or an air car with a non-functional system) on a hot day and experience the miserable vents blowing hot air on you. A wretched experience.
The old system disappeared virtually overnight. It was universal in the late 60s and gone 5 years later. The cynic in me says it was a way to push $500 a/c systems and eliminate providing ventilation for free.

It really depends on the car; it’s a function of the intake plenum design, not integrating the ventilation and heater (something Nash started doing back in the thirties, incidentally — the Weather Eye system). All the Hondas I’ve owned had excellent flow-through ventilation, for instance.

Back in my shady used car days, we had a 1963 Monterey, a black one, just like in the ad. It had a red vinyl interior and boy, did that thing have chrome inside. The quality of the interior materials was very impressive compared to ’70s and 80’s stuff, too. The car had a 390 4 bbl and dual exhaust. It was an easy feat to smoke the puny 14″ tires, too!

I loved driving the car because there was nothing else on the road like it. Faults? Well, like all Fords it was rusty above the headlights. I wonder how they could design each and every one of their cars to do that?

On the opposite end of the scale, when I was a small child, my uncle (married to my father’s sister) had a baby blue ’63 with a six cylinder and three on the tree. I always wondered why the rear window didn’t roll down. Anyway, he was in the airforce and was sent to Germany and the car went with him. He then discovered the Autobahn, where he proceeding to drive the Merc with his foot to the rug as much as possible. The six was not designed to do this and after a couple of months he blew up the engine. Needless to say, there were no replacements around, nor on an airman’s salary the money to pay for it. My father agreed to pay for the engine and my father’s brother, also in the airforce, managed to get on a transport flight from Trenton, Ontario, to Baden, Germany. The only stipulation was that uncle had to keep it under 70 mph!

Dad never saw a cent for that engine and it was, I believe, $500 for a used one. Not small change in 1966.

You mention all the interior chrome, when I was a kid in 1985 my Mom bought a 62′ Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 for our family car and it had tons of chrome inside- so much that as you were riding in it you’d get blinded by all of the reflections of the inside trim! Practically had to wear sunglasses in the back seat- that combined with the wraparound glass and it was bright and hot. Luckily it was a 4 dr hardtop so the windows were usually all down. Great rides with so much character.

We had one of those when I was a child, a 1964 Monterey. Ours was gold with a gold vinyl interior. My father traded it in initially on a 1967 VW Fastback, which I’ve discussed on this site before. The VW was unloved by my mother and it wasn’t long before we were back in a Mercury, only this time we got into a Montego.

Unfortunately, I was about three when we traded off the Monterey, so I don’t have precise memories of the car. One of my father’s friends also had a Breezeway Merc, but a 1966 model (I think), as they were in a one-up-manship kind of a relationship, although our other family friends outclassed us all with the Olds 98 they bought. It had factory air, not those crappy units that hung down under the dash.

Regardless, I don’t recall many people complaining about any dust entering the car, but since everyone smoked back then (including the family dog, I swear), the Breezeway window really did provide a way to vent out the smoke. I mostly remember the family friend’s Breezeway as a big car, and the roll down rear window as a novelty that we didn’t have any more in our Montego.

I think the 62 Mercury has snazzy upmarket tailights(but Im an Imperial nut) and I like the side spear that looks like the fender lines on the classic 49 Mercury(also has a Buick flair). The waterfall grille with intermitent pattern(Sheriff from “CARS” has it as a mustache) was a long time Mercury trait that is real subtle(maybe too subtle) here. The even used it up until the Panther Grand Marquis’. They were trying in their own way with “little” Mercury(Buick/DeSoto/Medium price) touches.

Just before I got my new 1965 Barracuda my plant manager tried to sell me on a 1962 Merc 2-door hardtop that his father had for sale. It was two-tone tan inside and out and personified to me that old-man vibe that I did not want in a car. And it wasn’t that I hated Mercurys either – I had already owned a 1946 coupe and two different 1955’s.

I had a 4Runner for awhile and that back window was brilliant. I could roll it down a couple inches, open the sunroof and pull fresh air into the vehicle with minimal buffeting. You could also operate the window via the lock on the tailgate – just like an old station wagon – my inner geek loved that. Having a back window that rolled completely out of the way (as opposed to flipping out) came in handy on many occasions.

Meanwhile new SUVs/CUVs don’t even offer the flip-up back window anymore-cheap.

Paul, contact 1963 Lemans, Your wish can be realized I have acquired my parent’s 1964 Montclair breezeway and we took it on the Jasper Street Rod Long Haul Cruise to Yellowstone last summer quite the ride

My dad had a Breezeway – I was pretty young so I don’t remember it very clearly. I’m pretty sure it would only lower a couple inches, which sounds like the last two years, but I could have sworn it was the slantback roofline. Alas, no pictures survive. I do remember being told he’d wanted a Mercury for years, having gotten one as a rental on a business trip. A few years after his second child was born, he managed to put aside enough money, made a factory order, paid cash.

The Breezeway window cooled the car well enough in Michigan, but his job relocated the family to below the Mason-Dixon line, and soon his pride and joy was traded for a Galaxie with factory air. He must have been heartbroken as he drove away from the lot.

I found an earlier example in a barn (literally) some years ago, but when I went back to photograph it a few months later, the barn had been torn down. I hope the Merc went to a good home first. Haven’t seen it resurface though.

EDIT: the barn find had “Mercury 25th Anniversary” badging which should be a ’64.

At one point I owned a Honda del Sol which had roll down rear window. The roof was a reel bitch to take off so usually left it on. But roll down the window and had the best ,almost, of a two seater convertible experience.

Heard all the road noise, and neither rain or snow would enter the cabin.

OK, it finally hit me what has been bothering me on the subject car. It is a 4 door hardtop with the little triangle at the back of the rear door for window clearance (so Zackman could roll the windows ALL the way down). Why on earth did they not carry the chrome band on the C pillar forward to cover most or all of the triangle too? I recall that part as usually being chrome-clad on at least the upper-level Galaxies, so why not on the Mercury too? It just looks off.

Edit – I have looked at several pictures of these. They seem to always have been either body color or roof color, but never with any chrome. Also, the shape of the triangle looks taller than on the Ford. Maybe it just wasn’t worth tooling up a piece of chrome and they hoped nobody would notice. Well it only worked for 48 years!

You beat me to it! That triangle sticks up like a shark is about to attack! Today’s black plastic triangle plague has nothing on this one. I couldn’t agree with you more. It certainly could have been styled to blend in with a radius into the door sill, not look like someone said after the first one rolled off the mock-up line: “Oh no! the back edge of the window is exposed and we need to cover that up, pronto!” Reminds me of the pop-riveted tail fins on the Larks.

Speaking of all things triangle, the stick-on chrome trim guys who make all that junk must have high hopes for the Chrysler 200; I saw one all dolled up with those chrome B pillar stick-ons – and a chrome cover for the triangle! I admit even I was impressed!

You know, there’s hope yet for some after-market guy to come up with a kit to make Camaro coupe rear windows open! If that happens, sign me up!

You know, GM sort of borrowed the concept when it made the rear window on the ’68-’72 Corvette removable. My Vette is a ’75 ( after bean-counters killed that option ) and I’m researching the possibility of doing the conversion on mine.

The current Ford Explorer Sport Trac and Toyota Tacoma and Tundra crew cabs offer an optional power roll-down rear window, I believe.

what a great car,butcc should do a thing on this styling feature,my first car was a 1961ford consul classic 315 sameroof styling but on a british ford ,have a look at the fordanglia,ford consul classic,mazda carol ,citroen ami and thedear oldreliant regal,all thease carshad that breezaway styling .

Well my husband and i owen a 63 Mercury Montery, and we are having the hardest time tryin to find some Reverse lights. Does anyone know where i can find some Reverse lights? I really want the can put together so we can cruz on a hot sunday!Thanks!

I own a black 63 Breezeway still in 2015.Anywho,I bought the car for 600 dollars in 1979.Best 600 dollars I ever spent.I bought it from some college kid that drove it back to Rochester NY from Florida.Needless to say except for a paint redo the car is in #two condition.I have aquired a lot of parts over the years for this classic Mercury just in case.Do you need the plastic back up lens that is in the middle of the three taillights on either side,or the whole assembly???I am pretty sure I have at least two lenses.Let me know.These are fabulous cars and extremely reliable and classic foxy looking!!! Cost will be minimal.

Old memories old car. We owned this car when i was a kid and it was just like the white one in the pics and it was a great car for kids back when there was no such thing as a car booster seat or mandatory seat belts… The 70s good times. My dad would role it down on rainy days the trunk was so big you could crawl out the back window and lay on the trunk while cruising around the neighbourhood. The ventilation was something else with the back window down the pull lever vents would blast the cabin at highway speeds better than a forced air system could and it was good fresh out out door air nothing like that anymore lots of crome inside and just enough out. I miss this car more than any and we had alt of great ones. I hope she’s still alive and the lord is looking out for her.

me and my girlfriend have a 63 mercury monterey breezeway that we are completely redoing right now , we are adding a little custom flair to it too , kind of a resto mod
since the monterey was based on the galaxie , alot of parts are interchangeable , i believe you can get the tail lights new thru mac http://macsautoparts.com

Ford’s English subsidiary used the reverse-rake in the 1960s on the 105-series Anglia (the Harry Potter model) and the Consul Capri, but neither had an opening rear window – the UK climate hardly justified it.

Then this blog (http://autos-lunette-arriere-inversee.blogspot.fr/) about cars with a Backward Slanted Rear Window might interest you. You will see that plenty more cars adopted this design quirk and not just in the UK. Thank you for this excellent article about the Monterey, which I have taken the liberty to mention as it offers great insights into the history of Z-shaped cars.

When I was about 8 or 9 years old my best buddy’s Dad had a ’63 Merc Monterey Breezway. He and I played for hours in that car, pretending it was a spaceship, rolling the back window up and down. That car always holds a special memory for me.

I learned to drive in a 63 mercury Monterey land yacht. Ten years earlier my brothers and I tried to decapitate each other with the “breezeway” window. The generic front end always said Ford to me. Not a bad thing.

But driving it,? Road feel was still a work in progress. Helper springs helped prevent bottoming out at the mere suggestion of a dip in the road. But I loved that thing because it was part of my childhood and my growing up. I’d love to rescue one and give it the loving attention it deserves but I live in NYC with very little space for a car at all. So I follow every story I can find of someone’s attempt to save one of these beasts.

Just came across this and my father had one. I still remember my and my sister sitting out thru the open rear window facing forward as my father drove. We lived on a small dirt road so he didnt go fast but it was awesome

Almost lost it to the Palm Sunday tornado that hit Crystal Lake IL.
Pasted it on RT 176 just feet away, it had slowed a lot, but as soon as I saw the grass on the side of the road spining around I floored that V8, except the tornado was a little stronger than a V8! I was trying to pass the slow poke in front of me and I could not.. Scary stuff! Left a huge mark on my brain that still lives today..